Please Help!!!!!!!!

Who has diagnosed him with ADHD and Bi-Polar? That certainly sounds beyond the expertise of a pediatrician. My son’s pediatrician referred me to a neurologist to rule out Asbergers when we were considering whether he had ADD.

Beth

You can request testing - do it in writing. Generally it costs them more time & resources to go through thte necessary legalities to deny the request than it does to do the testing, so it’s worth asking. (However, you might do better to have it done independently, depending on your resources.)

What schools will do varies by state, and within states, by District. In our district, if a child is succeeding academically, and their behavior isn’t disrupting the classroom or hurting other children, the school will not evaluate.

ADHD, bipolar and Aspergers are all medical diagnoses—not educational diagnoses. While ADHD is included under Other Health Impaired, our district will still argue that there needs to be an adverse educational impact before it warrants a special ed case study.

My impression is that IDEA 2004 is supposed to make it easier for parents to request a full case study—but I’m not positive of that. If not, consider a private evaluation.

I don’t know where you live, but often teaching hospitals with psychiatry programs or university psychology programs have outpatient clinics where your child can be evaluated for a reasonable cost by a resident or student under the supervision of a trained clinician.

Leah

I would add that I have seen many cases of children started on stimulants who later became aggressive, and were diagnosed “bipolar.” The “bipolar” behavior is likely a consequence of inappropriate stimulant treatment or too high of a dosage leading to behavioral adverse effects, at least in many cases. It may be impossible to get a real analysis of what is going on without removing him from ALL medications and starting over. This is called a “medication wash” and I have seen some kids who have done this and end up MUCH more functional WITHOUT the medication than they were while taking it. Even if this does not happen, you will be able to get a clearer picture of what you are trying to deal with if you can eliminate medication side effects as a complicating factor, and can re-decide whether medication is helpful and which ones you want to try. If your doctor is unwilling to consider this, you might want to look for another doctor. I agree that 2 is incredibly young to diagnose ADHD, since most every behavior on the ADHD checklist is entirely normal for a 2-year-old child. I would highly recommend starting over and reevaluating whether or not the original intervention is doing more harm than good.

If I may ask…

What specifically leads you to believe that your son is Aspie?

It is not surprising that your drs. brush off your thoughts; are they the same one(s) who made the initial diagnosies of ADHD and Bi-polar? Have they been prescribing medications for both of these possibly erroneous diagnosies? Can you spell malpractice litigation?

If you want your child evaluated for Asperger’s, you will need to take him to a competant and experienced professional (for accuracy’s sake). There will be a qualified professional on staff at any Children’s Hospital. For best results you will probably have to wean him off any drugs he is currently on (some of the meds used for Bi-polar can be extremely dangerous to go cold-turkey, so talk to your dr. and use caution).

Many school districts do not recognize Asperger’s yet, although if you can get a dual Dx of Asperger’s/HFA you can qualify under IDEA. Asperger’s can still qualify under OHI for 504.

Be very careful about overdiagnosing. My son is 9 and is ADHD with a severe impulsivity. He is completely his own person and does not care what anyone thinks about him. His teachers have suggested that he may be BiPolar and Aspergers. He is not and his Dr’s are in complete agreement with me but some of his teachers keep pushing the issue. I have taken him to neurologists, psychologists, pediatricians, psychiatrists and therapists. We’ve been through every drug and I’m done!!! I’m actually pulling my son out of traditional school and will homeschool him until next year. If public school doesn’t work next year I will continue to homeschool. Everyone else will drive you nuts!! You know your son!! One major sign of Asperger’s is the lack of social bonds and limited or improper emotional responses. If your son is able to bond with others, including you, and has a full range of emotions including remorse, than it may be doubtful he is Asperger’s. One reason Asperger’s is becoming a more common diagnosis is that kids with ADHD have a more difficult time making friends because of the ADHD not Asperger’s. My son has a full range of emotions but he just does his own thing. I hope your son is doing well.

Jen
AKA Cartersmommie

I agree with formally requesting an evaluation from the school. Also, see if your health insurance will cover an independent neuro-psychological eval. The school can conduct all the other evals. That is what I did with my son. Unfortunately, my husband and I had to pay for an independent eval, because the major institutions (we live near Children’s Hospital and Kennedy Kreiger institute) were booked for months. But to me, an independent eval is worth it.

I’ve been hearing so much more about kids being diagnosed with not only ADHD, but ODD, bipolar, mood disorder. I don’t know what’s going on. But if you really believe in your gut that a diagnosis is inappropriate, fight it and even get second and third opinions. Buy or borrow a DSM-IV manual (Google for details) and do some research if you haven’t already. You know your child more than anyone else. If someone implies that you take exception to ADHD and bipolar because you just don’t want to hear the truth, don’t believe that.

Good luck to you.

If you suspect that your child has any form of autism, I would only let a neuropsychologist diagnose your child. They are the pros at diagnosing autism, for they spend a great deal of time with the child. Asperger’s can be missed, if the person does not spend a lot of time with the child. What makes you think your child has Asperger’s?